Earls hamstring strain adds to injury concerns for Ireland

Murray Kinsella Reports from Paris

A HAMSTRING STRAIN for wing Keith Earls has added to the injury concerns for Ireland ahead of next weekend’s World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand.

Munster man Earls was not involved in last night’s pool-clinching win over Scotland and it has emerged that he was ruled out of potentially featuring by a hamstring issue.

Earls sat out the warm-up at Stade de France last night along with Robbie Henshaw, who also has a hamstring injury. Every other Ireland squad member took part in the warm-up.

Ireland assistant coach Simon Easterby confirmed this morning that Earls is carrying an injury, which accentuates the issues Ireland picked up during last night’s game.

Right wing Mack Hansen was forced off in the first half with a calf issue, having passed a Head Injury Assessment, while left wing James Lowe was replaced at halftime due to an eye injury.

Centre Garry Ringrose and scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park were called on to fill in on the wings and did an excellent job, but the injury concerns over Lowe, Hansen, and Earls, leave fullback Hugo Keenan and the versatile Jimmy O’Brien, who has yet to feature in this World Cup, as the only fully-fit back three players in the Irish squad.

There was further concern last night for second row James Ryan, who took a blow to the wrist and finished the game in obvious pain. It’s believed that the wrist injury from last night is not on the same arm as the knock Ryan took two weekends ago against South Africa.

“It’s difficult to say at the moment, it’s probably 12 hours out of the game,” said Easterby when asked for an update on the status of Lowe, Hansen, and Ryan this morning.

“It’s mad when there’s a late kick-off and we’re getting used to them but it takes a bit of time for injuries to settle and guys to get assessed.

James Lowe suffered an eye injury. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

“It’s the next 24 to 48 hours where we’ll be able to get a better read on those guys. But everyone’s in good form today, which is nice, but there will be a bit of work going on in the next 24 to 48 hours to assess those guys who had bumps.”

As for Henshaw and Earls, Easterby said that they will attempt to make some progress in their rehabilitation today. Speaking on Thursday, Ireland head coach Andy Farrell said that Henshaw’s hamstring injury would likely sideline him for at least a couple of weeks.

Ireland defence coach Easterby said there is confidence in O’Brien’s ability to step up this week if required.

“Robbie did some running in the captain’s run [on Friday], so we’re probably understanding more about their injuries and where they’re at,” said Easterby.

“They’ll both be running today, Earlsie and Robbie, and they’ll be progressing into training Monday and Tuesday.

“It’s probably a little early to say either way but certainly if they get ruled out, Jimmy has been waiting in the wings, as such, and he did incredibly well last November. There’s no issue with Jimmy if he gets an opportunity and hopefully we’ll have a full deck to choose from come Tuesday or Wednesday.”

Easterby was keen to stress that Earls’ hamstring issue is not a tournament-ending injury.

“At a push, he could have been involved this weekend but it was probably one of those we felt it wasn’t the right time to risk,” said Easterby.

“We were really pleased that it was flagged when it was and we had that opportunity to make that call early enough to make sure that, fingers crossed, he’s fully fit for this week.”